Automatic railway-crossing gate



Oct. 5 1926.

J. KLIMALA AUTOMATIC RAILWAY cRossING GATE Flled Feb 8 192e tl 0 "T' mw, u N www Oct. 5 1926. 1,602,231

y J. KLIMALA A AUTOMATIC RAILWAY CROSSING GATE?4 Filed Feb. s, 192e 2 sheets-Sheet 2 J kam Patented Oct. 5, 1926.r

y U ET Yrosii'rri KLIMALA, on CHICAGO, iLLiivoIs.l

AUTOMATIC aAihwAY-cnossiiveen'rn.

Application filed February The invention relates toV atuomatic vrail- 'way gates, the principal object thereof being to provide a gate capable of'remaining in closed position by virtue of gravity.

'5 vAiiother'object of the invention is to protion and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated. inthe acconipanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims. g

In the drawings forming a part of this application and vin which like designating characters Y. refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views A Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewof the gate f rectly below the pivot point 22 ofrail section Y with the mechanism associated with the rail for-operating thev gate; Y y' v Fig. 2 is a top view of a railway track showing the two gates, one at each side of the track, together with .the mechanisms associated with oneof the-rails foroperating tliegate;andv y v Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view through the `mechanism Vfor-"opening the -gate, the view having been taken on line 3-3 of Fig. '1. Referring to the construction -of the device in detail, the gate, consisting of bottom section 10 weight 11 and brace 12 is pivotally mounted'on pin 13v within the bifurcated upper end of post 14. As plainly seen on Fig. 1, brace 12 connects the 'lowerrsection 10 with weight 11. The gate further comprises a railingv 15 whichis adapted :to be actuated by a mechanism hereinafter 'described for v xr'od 36 passing through the lower portion of opening the gate. A similar railing 16 is provided at the opposite side of the gate lcooperating withv the mechanism for closing the gate. Each of said railings'is spaced away from the section 10 for receiving in the resulting spaces the bifurcated ends of post l 14, as plainly seen on Fig. 2. v

A gate of similar construction is positioiied on the other side of track 17 and com- -27 wherein rod 28 is rigidly mounted.

8, 192s.. serial No. 86,733;

prises weight 11 brace 12 bifurcated'post 14', railing 15for closing the gate,` and railing 16y for opening the gate. Bothigates are adapted for loperating in unisnuby means of the Vmechanism hereinafter 'described.

Referring nowto the gate closing mechanism, the same comprises a rail section 18, which is positioned within the 'cutaway portion of the rail 19, and is held therewithiii by braces 20 which by their ends are secured to the adjacent ends of the rail,'asfat-21. The

-saidl rail section l18 is pivotally mountedy within braces 20at its end farther removed from the gate, the p ivot Vpoint being indicated by 22. Block 23 is-positioned directly below the lrail sectionv18. `Norniallysaid blockand'the rail section l18'remain elevated by virtue of the coil spring 24 which re- Vmains, interposed between block 23 and -su'pport 25. For guarding against the lateral displacement ofthe spring 24 said biock 23 is provided with a'cup 26 for receivingthe upper endV of said coil spring, 24, and a similar cup is'made in thesupportq25 forref` lceiving the lower end of said spring.'

Block 23 at the point.substantially di- 18 is provided with a depending projectionl At its outer endfrod 28 has a' lever 29'keyed thereto. AHorizontallink 30 is ,pivoted to .V'nected to a downwardly depending projec- 4said lever l29, and at its 'other end 'said link L30 is `in pivotal association with lever 31 fuition 34carried^by ring 35 which lis rigidly vmounted upon r'od36. Keyed-upon the near end'of rod 36 is a lever 37 'whichv at its upper ,end'` carries a laterallyprojecting pin 38. Said pin carriesa roller 39 which isv adapted for sliding movement upon railing 16 of the gate. f

As shown onFig. 2 the opposite end 'dfi post14, as at '40, has a'lever 37 which is adapted for sliding movement upon railing gates` 12 and 12" have more or less e ual j weights at each of theirends,vso that w ien they' are brought .to the closed position, illus- Y side of ythe traclr 17.

trated on Figs. 1 and 2 they will remain in that position wit-hout any pressure being-exerted thereupon by levers 37 and 37.

For opening the gate a recess 42 `is made in rail 1,9 at a point at the othersideof the crossing. Rail section 43 is positioned within said recess and pivotally held therewithin by braces 45 which at their ends are secured to the adjacent ends of the rail as at 46 and 47. Below section 43, at the end opposite from the pivot 44'block 43 is positioned, Whigeh normally is at an upward pressure by coil spring ,49 positionedwithin cup-50 by its upper end. The lower end of .said springl 50 rests within plate 51. Said block 43 has a projection 52 wherein rod 53 is rigidly keyed. The end of saidl rod 53 carries lever 54 which is keyed to said rod 53. rlhe upper end of said lever 54 is .pivotally connected4 to one end of horizontal link 55. The other end of said link 55 pivotally connect-s to lever 56 .which .is fulcrumed at 57. To the lower end of saidv Alever 57 oneend oit operating rod 53 is connected, while the other end of said operating rod 53 .is in pivotal association Vwith a downwardly depending` .projection 59 rigidly formed with gate opening lever '60. The upper end of said lever 60 carries a pin 61 having a rol-ler -62 positioned thereupon. Said roller is adapted to ride within depression 63 of the .railing 15. Rod 64 passing through the lower portion of post 14, as plainly seen on Figs. 1 and 2, is by its one end keyed ,to lever 60 as at165. The other `end oi said rod 64 is in rigid engagement with vthe lowerend of lever 60 which is adapted to open ,the gate at the opposite Said lever 60 carries .a pin 61 having a roller 62iwhich is adapted for sliding movement within a depression made in the railing 15.

'F rom the drawings and hereinabove description it will be `apparent that rollers 62 and 62 are disposed upon railings 15 and 15, respectively, at one side of vthe pivot point 13 and 13, while levers 37 and 37 with their cooperating rollers 39 and 39', are disposed at the opposite side of said pivot point 13 and 13 respectively. It is to be further observed that' lever-s 37and 3 7 are intended gto operate simultaneously and saine-holds `true with the levers 60 and A60.

The operation of the invention is as -follows: Assuming 4the gate to ybe open, the position indicated by the dotted .line-s on Fig. 1 train 66 1) approaching the crossing and .the gate will exert a downward pressure by wheel 67 upon rail section 18 causing downward movement of block 23 and a. constant angular shifting of projection 27, which in turn will impart a. rotary shifting movement to rod 23. Rod 28 will cause "lever 29 to make an angular shifting the opening .of the gate.

movement by its upper end and exert a pressure upon connecting rlinlr 30, which iin turn will exert a pressure `upon the upper end of vlever 3.1. Said lever 31, by virtue of its permanent fulcrum point 32 will exert a pressureV in theopposite direction upon operating rod 33, which by its other end will pull upon projection 34, in consequence whereol5 ,the upper end of lever 37 with its roller 39 will bear upon railing 16 and will cause the closing o the gate. Since both endsr o'ly the gate are more or less equal in weight, lthe gate brought .to Vthe closing position illustrated on Fig. 1 `will remain vlin that position, ynotwithstanding the fact that the-several wheels .of the vtrain lpassingfover the track, fail to exert a continuous vpressure upon section 13, even after 'the train completely passes section 13,',andfsaid section reverts to its yorigina-l normal position by being :pressed upwardly by spring 24,the gate .will continue to remain in the closed position owing to its equilibrium until Athe train reaches the gate closing` mechanism lat vthe opposite side of ,the crossing. .F.rom the hereinabmieV description it will rbe vseen ithat even .the first wheel of the trainor off the l'ocomotive is sufficient to cause ythe operation otl the gate vclosingmechanism for ythe I.purpose of bringing the gate to .the closed position illustrated on 1.

The said gate opening ,mechanism hereinabove described is illustrated on Fig. 1 as being in a normal inoperative position. As

.soon as the train yby its wheelsjcomes .over

section 43 it will exert a pressureV upon block 43, and by -virtue of the .construction hereinabove described, said block Vwill cause an angular shifting movement of 'lever 54, the `upper end or' which lever will exert a pressure upon rod 55 inthe direction of the gate. The other end of said rod 55 will eX- ert a pressure upon the upper endof lever 56 in the same direction, causing lthe lower end oisaid lever 56 to shift inthe opposite direction, thus exerting a pulling force upon operating rod 58 which in turn will pull upon the projection 59 which is integrally formed with lever r60. This force will cause the upper end of `lever v60 with its Vroller 62 to shift :toward .the weight 11, .or 1'1, as ythe case vmay be, and exert a downward pressure upon-.therespective end Vof the gate. Vlhis downward pressure vof Aroller 62 will cause will assume the position illustrated "by dotted -lines on Fig. 1.

Pins 68 and '63 are provided at the upper ends of ipost 14, and 14, respectively, which,

bearing `against railings 16 and 16', respectively, limit a urtherupward movement of the gate as plainly seen on Fig. 1.

Below one end of each gate buffers 69 are provided which act as shock absorbers during lthe opening of the gates as is obvious.

'.lhe opened gate By virtue of the equilibrium of the gates,

Y as hereinabove described, even a slight actuation of levers 60 and 60 will be sufficient to open the gates,

should be covered or suitably housed as' wel] as suitably anchored.

IVhile there is described herein a preferred embodiment of the present invention it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without de parting from the spirit and scope of the .invention asy claimed.

Ihat I claim as new is 1. A railroad crossing gate comprising a support, a swinging member pivoted in said support, said swinging member being adapted to assume open or closed position and being constructed to remain in either open or closed position by virtue oit' equilibrium, a lever associated with said swinging member or bringing the same from open to closed position', means cooperating with said track for actuating said lever, another lever associating with said swinging member for' bringing the same from closed to open position, and means cooperating with the rail track 'for actuating the latter lever, both of said means being adapted for alternating operation by being actuated by the train wheels.

2. A railroad crossing gate comprising a' support, a swinging member pivoted in said support, said swinging member being adapt- Y ed to assume and remain in a horizontal or closed position by virtue of its equilibrium, a lever associating with said swinging member, a rail section in the adjacent rail, a spring under said rail section for normally maintaining said ra-il section in an elevated position, said rail section being adapted to be actuated by the wheels of a passing train, and means cooperating with said lever and said rail section for actuating said leverfon actuation of said rail section by the train wheels `for bringing said swinging member to a closed position.

3. A railroad crossing gate comprising a support, a swinging member pivoted in said support, 'said swinging member being'adapt-` ed to assume and maintain intermittently either openor closed position by virtue of its'equilibrium, a lever associating with said swinging member for bringing the same 'l'roin an open to-a closed position, another lever associating with said swinging member for bringing the same from a closed to an open position, a rail section in the adjacent rail, a spring under said rail section normally maintaining said rail section in an elevatedv position, another rail section in the adjacent rail, a spring for normally maintaining the latter rail section in an elevatedV I (l5 position, each of said rail sections being adapted 'for intermittent downward pressure by the train wheels against the tension of the respective springs, means between said first named lever' and said first namedrail section forv imparting to said lever the motion of said rail section when pressed by the train wheels for actuating said swinging member into a closed position, and another means Vbetween said second named lever and said second named rail section for imparting to said second named lever the motion of said second named rail section when pressed by the train wheels for actuating said swinging member from a closed to an open position. y

In :testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

JOSEPH KLIMALA. 

